| The Ascension | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 25, 2020 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 80:30 | |||
| Label | Asthmatic Kitty | |||
| Producer | Sufjan Stevens | |||
| Sufjan Stevens chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Ascension | ||||
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The Ascension is the eighth studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released through Asthmatic Kitty on September 25, 2020. [2] The record was influenced by a range of artists, particularly Ariana Grande and her 2018 song "Thank U, Next". [3]
NPR's Lindsay Zoladz describes The Ascension as "an 80-minute meditation that revisits nearly every one of the grand themes he has explored during his two-decade career: Love, death, faith, desire, place, country, apocalypse, resurrection." [4]
The album's lead single, "America", was released on July 3, 2020. [5] A second single, "Video Game", was released on August 13 along with a music video choreographed by Jalaiah Harmon. [6] [7] A third single, "Sugar", and its music video were released on September 15. [8] [9]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.9/10 [10] |
| Metacritic | 80/100 [11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| The A.V. Club | B [13] |
| Exclaim! | 10/10 [14] |
| The Independent | [15] |
| Mojo | [16] |
| NME | [17] |
| Paste | 8.0/10 [18] |
| Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [19] |
| Record Collector | [20] |
| Slant Magazine | [21] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald |  [22] |
The Ascension received positive reviews upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received an average score of 80 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [11] Music critic Tom Hull gave it an A-minus and said "singer-songwriter" may be "too self-limiting" a designation for Stevens, who "is a pop composer of grand sweep and delicate bearing, an heir to Brian Wilson working on if anything a broader canvas. His is not a style I'm fond of, but half of these songs click for me, and the others seem to be lurking in the depths, awaiting their moment." [23] Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky, however, was more tempered in his praise, noting: "But despite its allusions to pop music escapism, The Ascension is, by design, kind of a drag: a dark and emotionally distant mood piece whose lyrics rarely touch on the specifics necessary to anchor the music, and whose music is rarely exciting enough to elevate his words." [24]
| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 19 | [25] |
| Double J | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 30 | [26] |
| Exclaim! | Top 50 Best Albums of 2020 | 20 | [27] |
| Mojo | Top 75 Albums of 2020 | 50 | [28] |
| The New York Times (Jon Pareles) | Best Albums of 2020 | 1 | [29] |
| Slant Magazine | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 17 | [30] |
| Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2020 | 13 | [31] |
All tracks are written by Sufjan Stevens
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Make Me an Offer I Cannot Refuse" | 5:18 |
| 2. | "Run Away with Me" | 4:07 |
| 3. | "Video Game" | 4:15 |
| 4. | "Lamentations" | 3:42 |
| 5. | "Tell Me You Love Me" | 4:21 |
| 6. | "Die Happy" | 5:46 |
| 7. | "Ativan" | 6:32 |
| 8. | "Ursa Major" | 3:42 |
| 9. | "Landslide" | 5:04 |
| 10. | "Gilgamesh" | 3:50 |
| 11. | "Death Star" | 4:04 |
| 12. | "Goodbye to All That" | 3:48 |
| 13. | "Sugar" | 7:36 |
| 14. | "The Ascension" | 5:56 |
| 15. | "America" | 12:29 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [32] | 28 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [33] | 28 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [34] | 107 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [35] | 59 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [36] | 143 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [37] | 26 |
| Irish Albums (OCC) [38] | 48 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) [39] | 34 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [40] | 15 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [41] | 96 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [42] | 44 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [43] | 35 |
| US Billboard 200 [44] | 90 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [45] | 9 |
| US Folk Albums (Billboard) [46] | 1 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) [47] | 31 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [48] | 18 |
| US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [49] | 2 |
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